Floyd Watson, Jr.

F loyd Watson Jr. came from a family consisting of his parents and six children. The family lived in Durham, North Carolina. Floyd was an athlete in his high school years (football and track) and went on to college to learn and to play football. College life was good and going as planned until Floyd was injured. Dang!

Floyd had considered going into the military and was kinda checking it out, then on an impulse, he went into the Air Force recruiter's office in Durham. The recruiter provided information that sounded good to Floyd on a Friday afternoon. Then the recruitwer asked, "How soon do you want to go into the Air Force?" Floyd said he was ready right now! Well, let's wait until Monday, anyway!

After taking the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) of tests, Floyd went home. As the evening meal was taken, Floyd mentioned that he had joined the Air Force.

Floyd's father was more than flummoxed! A comment made at a meal would change the family dynamic forever. In not much time, Floyd's father asked when was the date for leaving... "Monday". Gulp! He had to report to the Induction Center in Raleigh, North Carolina to get the physical examination, and when he passed... he would take the oath and would be in the Air Force.

Floyd got an airplane ticket to fly from Raleigh to San Antonio, Texas then a quick trip on to Lackland Air Force Base. The plane arrived at about 0400. Floyd and others were met by the "B" team who got the men into a barracks for the rest of the night.

The next morning, Floyd heard calls from the other airmen..."here come the rainbows!" meaning that the new inductees were there in a variety of civilian clothing that was not uniform. So they went to the Clothing Issue Point (CIP) where they were handed a big duffle bag and told to shuffle sideways down the line and get the bag filled up. In doing so, Floyd arrived at the slacks station and said "34 inch waist, 32 inch inseam". The guy said "What?" Then he handed Floyd some slacks and told him "here!" The men got their bags-full-of-uniforms and marched back to their barracks.

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